Natural-wood fuel.



No. 660363. Patented Oct. 30,1900.

. A. A. Low.

NATURAL WOOD FUEL.

Application filed Apr. 12, 1900.)

(No Model.)

WRKms$msa v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABBOT AUGUSTUS LOW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

NATU RAL wooD FU EL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,863, datedOctober 30, 1900. Application filed April 12, 1900. Serial No. 12,549- (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ABBOT AUGUSTUS Low, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Natural-Wood Fuel, of which the following is a specification suflicient to enable others skilled in the art to which the inventiouappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the preparation of natural-Wood fuel for the market and for consum ption, especially to natural wood of small diameter, such as transverse sections of the limbs of trees.

My object is to prevent the splitting or cracking of the wood and the peeling of the bark therefrom by providing for the drying out of the Wood internally and rendering harmless the contraction which is inevitable during the drying process. I This contraction of the wood during the drying of the concentric layers 'or rings of wood fiber has heretofore resulted in the cracking or splitting of the wood radially in various places, as well as the peeling off of the bark, since the cracking of the wood ruptures and loosens the bark, so that it is readily detached by contact with foreign objects or curls up and peels 01f by the exposure of its inner surface more or less to the atmosphere. As a result many of the volatile constituents of the wood that would otherwise enrich it and enhance its value as a fuel are lost by evaporation from the exposed surfaces, which are largely increased in area by the splitting or cracking of the wood radially, as well as by the loss of- It is obvious that un-.

the encircling bark. der the conditions above named the escape of gums and other products of the wood-cells both peripherally and through the cracks in the wood will be comparatively free and unobstructed, with the result that the material oozing out which is not lost by evaporation will be reduced to a sticky viscous condition, renderin g the fuelinconvenient and disagreeable to handle. I overcome all the objectionable features above enumerated by my invention, which consists, essentially, in perforating or removing the heart-wood of the cross-section of a limb or'branch of the wood desired. In other words, I remove the exdinary manner. I tion affords a convenient means for bundling trerne inner duramen without disturbing the v younger concentric rings or layers. As a result the wood dries more rapidly through the center or core than it could possibly do peripherally,since the section of wood is protected cirjcumferentially bythe bark. As the Wood fiber dries the concentric layers or rings naturally dens'ed, and confined, (excepting only at the comparatively small surface exposed at the point of perforation,) so that the section of wood will not only be more symmetrical in appearance and cleaner to the touch, but it will also be much richer and more valuable as a fuel than when allowed to dry in the or- Furt-hermore, the perforaand transporting the fuel, since any desired is an edge view of the section, showing the bark intact. Fig. 5 is a view showing a number of sections of wood strung together. Fig. 6 is a similar view of a string or bundle of my improved fuel.

In carrying out my invention I design to utilize very largely the smaller branches of trees of a size ordinarily destroyed or discarded, although the same method may be employed in the preparation of natural wood of larger diameter. The natural Wood is cut into sections S by saws and then punctured or otherwise perforated by suitable mechanism, care being exercised to perforate the wood at the heart or duramen, as indicated in the drawings, although any perforation of the wood approximating the center thereof will be more or less effective in attaining the result desired. The diameter of the perforation P should bear such proportion to the diameter of the section S of wood as to afford a sufficient internal surface for drying and a sufficient area for the relief of the strain to which the concentric rings or layers of fiber are subjected during the drying without materially weakening the section. In other words, a sufficient number of the concentric layers of wood fiber should be left to give strength and stability to the section of wood under ordinaryconditions of use. When this is done, the drying of the wood fiber around the perforation will be comparatively rapid, thereby relieving the outer concentric layers from internal pressure. The bark being retained intact circumferentially naturally retards the drying out of the wood peripherally, so that the process of drying is practically from the circu m t'erence toward the center, the concentric rings contracting centrally, and thereby preventing the splitting or cracking of the wood and retaining within their cells and concentrating therein the resinous and inflammable products of the wood growth. This feature of relieving the internal strain which occurs in the structure of the Wood in the process of drying is an important and distinguishing feature of my invention, since I thereby practically maintain the section of wood intact with all its valuable constituents confined therein. Furthermore, by preventing the oozing out of the gums and other st icky or viscous prod nets of the natural Wood I render the latter more cleanly and convenient for handling and transportation.

As before intimated, the perforation of the wood performs a double function, in that it preserves the integrity of the same while affol-ding convenient means for bundling or assembling any desired number of the sections of wood together for handling or transportation.

This method of preparing and bundling of the wood has many practical and commercial advantages over any method heretofore ob tained. For instance, the whole or a portion of a bundle may be used or sold, as desired. \Vhcn only a portion of-the bundle is used or sold, the rest of the bundle is left intact and the several parts of the bundle do not necessarily become detached and separated when the bundle is opened or broken.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of manufacture, a fuel consisting of a transverse section of natural resinous exogenous wood, with the bark adhering thereto, containing integrally constituents of inflammable nature naturally oxidized therein, said resinous section being perforated at the duramen, thus efiecting the drying of the Wood internally, and relieving internal pressure thereby preventing the splitting of the wood during drying, whereby the loss of the volatile constituents is prevented, their oxidation is facilitated and the inflammable prod nets of oxidation are retained within the fiber 0f the wood, substantially as set forth.

2. As an article of manufacture a fuel consisting of a transverse section of natural res inous, exogenous Wood with the bark adhering thereto, containing integrally constituents of infiamm able nature naturally oxidized therein, said transverse section of natural wood being perforated at its duramen for the purpose of facilitating the drying out of the wood internally and of relieving internal pressure, thus preventing the splitting of the Wood during drying, avoiding the loss of the volatile constituents and retaining such inflammable products of oxidation within the fiber of the wood, substantially as set forth.

ABBQT AUGUSTUS LOIV.

Witnesses:

D. W. GARDNER, GEO. WM. MIATT. 

